Free-standing phosphorous-doped molybdenum nitride in 3D carbon nanosheet towards hydrogen evolution at all pH values

Highly efficient electrocatalysts towards hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) with large current density at all-pH values are critical for the sustainable hydrogen production. Herein, we report a free-standing HER electrode, phosphorous-doped molybdenum nitride nanoparticles embedded in 3-dimentional carbon nanosheet matrix(P-Mo2N-CNS) fabricated via one-step carbonization and in-situ formation. The asprepared catalyst shows free-standing architecture with interconnected porous microstructure. P-doped Mo2N nanoparticles with an average diameter of 4.4 nm are well embedded in the 3-dimentional vertical carbon nanosheets matrix. Remarkable electrocatalytic HER performance is observed in alkaline, neutral and acidic media at large current densities. The overpotential of P-Mo2N-CNS to drive a current density of 100 mA cm-2 in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M PBS is only 181 and 221 mV, respectively. In particular, the current density reaches up to 1000 mA cm-2 at a low overpotential of 256 mV in 1.0 M KOH, much better than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculations suggest the optimized H sorption kinetics on Mo2N after P doping, elucidating the superior activity.

Ultramicro molybdenum nitride powder prepared using high-energy mechanochemical method

Using the specially designed mechanochemical ball-mill equipment, ultramicro molybdenum nitride powders were prepared from pure molybdenum powders in ammonia atmosphere at room temperature by high-energy ball milling. The structure and the particle size of the powders were investigated by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The results show that the mass ratio of grinding media to powder was 8：1, after milling for 30 h the Mo2N of fcc structure was obtained, and the average particle size of the powders was around 100 nm. It is found that the chemisorption of ammonia onto the fresh molybdenum surfaces created by milling was the predominant process during solid-gas reaction, and the energy input due to introduction of highly dense grain boundaries and lattice defects offered the activation energy for the transition from Mo-N chemisorption to molybdenum nitride. In addition, the change of Mo electronic undersaturation induced by the grain refining accelerated the bonding between Mo and N. The mechanism model of whole nitriding reaction was given, During the high-energy ball milling processing, the rotational speed of milling played a critical role in determining the overall reaction speed.

Surface pseudocapacitance of mesoporous Mo_(3)N_(2) nanowire anode toward reversible high-rate sodium-ion storage

Sodium-ion storage devices are highly desirable for large-scale energy storage applications owing to the wide availability of sodium resources and low cost.Transition metal nitrides(TMNs)are promising anode materials for sodium-ion storage,while their detailed reaction mechanism remains unexplored.Herein,we synthesize the mesoporous Mo3N2 nanowires(Meso-Mo_(3)N_(2)-NWs).The sodium-ion storage mechanism of Mo3N2 is systematically investigated through in-situ XRD,ex-situ experimental characterizations and detailed kinetics analysis.Briefly,the Mo_(3)N_(2) undergoes a surface pseudocapacitive redox charge storage process.Benefiting from the rapid surface redox reaction,the Meso-Mo_(3)N_(2)-NWs anode delivers high specific capacity(282 m Ah g^(-1) at 0.1 A g^(-1)),excellent rate capability(87 m Ah g^(-1) at 16 A g^(-1))and long cycling stability(a capacity retention of 78.6%after 800 cycles at 1 A g^(-1)).The present work highlights that the surface pseudocapacitive sodium-ion storage mechanism enables to overcome the sluggish sodium-ion diffusion process,which opens a new direction to design and synthesize high-rate sodiumion storage materials.

Efficient hydrogen production from high-concentration aqueous formic acid over bio-basedγ-Mo_(2)N catalysts

Formic acid is regarded to be one of the most prospective hydrogen carriers.Effective screening of the fitting non-noble-metal-based heterogeneous catalysts to substitute the expensive noble-metal-based ones for FA dehydrogenation is considered as a key to the commercial application for hydrogen economics.Herein,dehydrogenation of liquid neat FA achieved a gas production value of 1753.5 mL/gcat./h at 94℃by using a biomass-derivedγ-Mo_(2)N based catalyst synthesized from the earth-abundant molybdenum and soybean with a facile pyrolysis process.The effect of material ratio,pyrolysis temperature on the catalytic performance of FA dehydrogenation were studied in details.In particular,the catalyst obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 700℃,weight ratios of ammonium molybdate to soybean of 0.2/1 exhibited the highest activity.In addition,the catalytic activity increased with the increase of FA concentration,but conversely,the dehydrogenation selectivity decreased with the increasing FA concentration.Moreover,it was found that the Bio-Mo_(2)N catalyst was rather stable over the 40 h continuous reaction period.